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Read-back on calls

Your receptionist reads names and phone numbers back to callers before saving a booking or call back, so a misheard digit is caught.

On a phone call, a name or a number can be misheard. With Read-back on, your receptionist reads the caller's details back and asks if they're right before it saves anything. A wrong digit gets caught while the caller is still on the line.

What it does

Before your receptionist books an appointment, takes a call back request or adds someone to the cancellation list, it says something like: "Just to check before I book that: Ann Lee, on oh seven seven oh oh, nine oh oh, one two three. Is that right?"

• Phone numbers are read digit by digit, in the usual UK groups (07700 900 123, 020 7946 0000).
• Only after the caller says yes does the booking or call back go through, with exactly the details that were read back.
• If the caller corrects something, the corrected version is read back the same way.
• It's a safeguard as well as an instruction: if your receptionist tries to save details it hasn't read back, the plugin stops it and has the read-back said first.

Settings

• Read back: Names and phone numbers (the default) or Phone numbers only.
• Surnames: Say the name back, or Spell the surname letter by letter too. Spelling helps with unusual names; it makes calls a little longer.

Setting it up

1. Switch the plugin on from the Plugins page (see Plugins overview).
2. Choose your two settings.
3. Press Save and test. You'll see an example of what callers will hear.

What it costs

Free. Calls take a few seconds longer, which counts towards your call minutes as usual.

Privacy

Nothing leaves CallsCovered. The details are only read back to the caller who gave them.

Limits

• It works on phone calls answered by the live receptionist. Live calls need Twilio as your phone provider, so on other providers this plugin does nothing.
• Website chat and texts show what the person typed, so read-back isn't used there.
• Numbers shorter than seven digits aren't read back.
• It covers bookings, call backs and the cancellation list only, not other things your receptionist does on a call.

Still stuck? Write to hello@callscovered.ai with your business name and what you were trying to do, and a person will reply.